


and in the ocean we’ll hold hands

by orphan_account



Category: The Killers (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-14 21:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14145036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The one in which Brandon and Ronnie take their daughter to the beach for the first time.





	and in the ocean we’ll hold hands

**Author's Note:**

> as soon as I publish more bronnie on here, its over for you bitches

Brandon found out rather quickly that he was the type of father to document everything about their kid. This wasn’t a bad thing, no not at all -- if anything, it guaranteed his sweet little girl (and most importantly him and Ronnie) would have more mementos of her childhood. Unfortunately, this hobby of his eventually resulted in Ronnie finding it necessary to remind him that “everything should be done in moderation, Brandon -- Daisy won’t need a picture of her new socks when she’s older.”

 

At this particular point in time, Brandon of course ignored his wonderful boyfriend by moving to photograph her sunflower-patterned socks at a different angle.

 

Ronnie learned to tolerate the constant barrage of the camera clicks. It took him awhile, but eventually he grew enthusiastic, going as far as to try and ruin every single goddamn photo with a silly face or a suggestive gesture. Brandon would pretend to get mad, complain about Ronnie to Daisy for a brief second, before stepping away to inconspicuously save the photo to his favorites. Who can blame him? The sight of Ronnie sticking his tongue out with the baby giggling is an image certain to warm his heart, all the love overwhelming his senses until all he can do is melt on the spot.

 

Over the months, his photo library steadily filled up -- Daisy playing on the carpet with her stuffed animals, Daisy using alphabet blocks, the occasional picture of the Nevadan landscape, Daisy doing the cutest little toddler dance along to Human, Daisy napping on Ronnie’s chest, Daisy grabbing fistfuls of Ronnie’s beard, Daisy and Ronnie, Daisy and Ronnie --

 

Brandon should probably consider diversifying his pictures, but damn, little brings him as much joy as swiping through his photos when his mind is far away and sleep is certain to elude him. On those nights, Ronnie would roll over with a grumble about the light, curl his arm around Brandon’s waist and pull him close. He’d then press a tired, absent-minded kiss to his temple before falling asleep almost instantaneously. Another one of his joys.

 

Brandon would then abandon his phone before settling back into bed to rest his head on Ronnie’s chest. The rest of the early morning hours would be spent rediscovering the planes of his boyfriend’s body with gentle caresses and drowsy eyes that refused to stay shut.

 

He had been happy before on many different occasions; his first date with the aforementioned man, performing with his idols, gaining international success with the Killers. Yet nothing truly compares to the day he found himself with little Daisy snuggled in his arms for the first time; the newborn blue of her eyes, her tiny fingers, the wisps of dark hair atop her head captivating him the moment he saw her. He was absolutely taken the second she became theirs.

 

Theirs.

 

He’ll never get tired of hearing it.

 

Brandon was pulled from his thoughts by the telltale shutter of the iPhone camera. He looked up from his breakfast, blinking the sleep from his eyes to see Ronnie smirking over his container of scrambled eggs with the phone in his hands. Sitting on his lap as if she owned the world was Daisy, solely focused on drinking her juice from the Disney-brand bottle.

 

He smiled at her sweetly, moving to brush the hair from her forehead before registering the fact that Ronnie was actually speaking—

 

“—cute, B. The other half of this family deserves to have pictures too.”

 

Brandon chuckled and picked up his fork to continue his breakfast, “I already get photographed enough at shows. There’s already plenty of me floating around the internet,” he said plainly, the grainy texture of his voice evident from lack of use and a certain activity he and Ronnie had engaged in the night before. Daisy squealed from her place and threw her hand upwards, smacking an indifferent Ronnie in the jaw.

 

Ronnie moved to playfully bite her hand, making Daisy overly excited that she very nearly drops her bottle. Ron moved to rest his head beside hers. “What’s that, princess? You have a very handsome daddy and he’s stupid enough to think that there will ever be enough pictures of him? Wow, I think you’ve got a point there!” Ronnie then proceeded to give Daisy’s cheek a big sloppy kiss before picking her up and carefully seating her on Brandon’s own lap. “This little girl has something she wants to tell you.”

 

Brandon made one of his gulping laughs, moving to comfortably adjust their daughter. He took the bottle she was threatening to toss across the room and placed it on the dining table, giving her easy access to curiously fist handfuls of his shirt. “Hello my flower,” he spoke to her. “Can you say daddy? Dada?”

 

Ronnie watched this all occur, laughing when Daisy failed to say absolutely anything. Instead she continued to paw at Brandon’s chest, even going as far as to deliver several hard openhanded slaps. “Hey! Whoa, whoa, easy darling.”

 

Daisy giggled, her face squishing up. Brandon pressed a kiss to her forehead and looked up at Ronnie who was now standing to collect the empty styrofoam boxes. He was careful to avoid spilling the puddle of maple syrup at the bottom of one, which of course had belonged to Brandon’s waffles.

 

They had eaten breakfast from the diner sitting across the street from their hotel. The two had to travel to California to deal with business concerning their separate music careers; Brandon with The Desired Effect and Ronnie with Straight In, No Kissin’ — their sophomore albums.

 

Brandon was due to go on tour soon within the next two weeks to promote his singles, so it made sense to bring along Daisy so they could all spend as much time together as a family. He didn’t want to apart from her earlier than necessary.

 

Daisy babbled on his lap, forming a string of nonsensical sounds as Brandon held her close. He pondered briefly to himself as he rubbed her back, listening to Ronnie throw away their trash. A glance out the window displaying the clear Californian sky with its deep vibrant blue revealed an answer to an unspoken concern.

 

“Hey, Ron? What do ya say we have ourselves a trip to the beach?”

 

—

 

So that’s how they found themselves at the beach, with Brandon lounging on his towel after recently applying their newly purchased suntan lotion. It hadn’t occurred to either of them that they would need to bring anything needed for the beach from Nevada, so a brief department store visit had been in order.

 

The two men had found themselves swim trunks (and they were relatively nice too - Brandon wouldn’t be caught dead wearing some twenty something dollar pants for an excursion in public) and had purchased something cute for Daisy. She was also suited with a little hat to protect her face from the sun. Brandon made sure to take a picture of her.

 

They also bought towels, snacks, water, a coke for Brandon, and a set of toys made just for toddlers. The latter were currently being put to good use. Daisy had Ronnie working for her double time, with her intently shoveling sand as Ronnie formed the castle from her mound. Brandon stretched one leg out, nudging the small of Ronnie’s back with his foot. The older man twisted around and smiled warmly. Lips suddenly twisting into a smirk, Ronnie grabbed his leg and pulled him forward, causing Brandon to be propelled into his back with an indignant shout.

 

“Oh no, no, no — you gotta help us build this, Flowers, and not be sitting on your ass looking pretty. Every princess deserves a castle, ain’t that right Daisy?”

 

At the sound of her name, Daisy looked up with bright eyes and her lower half absolutely covered in sand.

 

Ronnie laughed low in his throat, making Daisy smile and eventually gurgle out giggles. He repeated her name in a high voice, reaching out towards her with both hands. Daisy squealed loudly and slapped him away. Brandon chuckled as he rested his head on Ronnie’s shoulder, uncaring of the warm skin still slick with lotion. “Who knew we had such a strong little prizefighter on our hands, huh Ron?”

 

Ronnie snorted. “She gets it from me.”

 

“Whatever you say.”

 

“Hey, fuck you, I can lift a goddamn horse,” he defended, the lift of his lips giving away his ruse. Brandon rolled his eyes and kissed him affectionately. They pulled back, the younger raising his hand to cradle Ronnie’s face and stroke the skin of his cheek with reverence. However, they were both rudely interrupted by a flying plastic shovel. The two looked towards Daisy simultaneously to find that the young girl was toddling through the sand towards them, collapsing into Brandon’s side as she hugged his middle and proceeded to shout, “upaupaupa!”

 

He moved to stand, hefting Daisy up as he went and resting her on his hip. Their daughter looked down at her papa with an air of superiority and her tongue tucked between her lips. She looked back at Brandon and blew a raspberry. She made another string of noises before extending her pudgy hands and grabbing the sides of his head, pulling him forwards so that their foreheads were touching. 

 

Ronnie tickled the bottom of her feet from where he remained sitting on the sand, making the little girl wildly kick out as she attempted to say something. Brandon bounced her slightly in his arms and narrowed his eyes with a grin. “Repeat that again, sweetheart? Drink? Food? ...Dada? C’mon flower, you can do it. Do it for daddy. Dada. Dadaaa.”

 

“Baby, I don’t think Daisy wanted to say daddy.”

 

“You’re just jealous dada is easier than papa,” Brandon pouted, returning his full attention to his little girl to kiss her cheek repeatedly. He continued to murmur softly to her while checking to see any telltale signs of hunger or discomfort. Ronnie tossed a handful of sand at his legs. “She already basically said pa, genius,” he snickered. Brandon threw him a glare before going to their bag to rummage for something easily consumable for Daisy. Ron smacked his ass with a cheeky smile as he walked away.

 

The day drew on, with Brandon and Ronnie spending most of the time playing with Daisy. Earlier she and Ronnie had managed to finish the castle (which only survived a whole twenty minutes before Daisy decided it was a worthy adversary and barreled into it) and eventually lead to all three of them retreating into the water. The two held Daisy carefully as they stayed in the shallow water, laughing as she splashed and giggled. Every time a wave came crashing, Brandon would lift her away with a whoop which quickly became a game that entertained their daughter to no end.

 

After some time, Ronnie began floating on his back with Daisy laying on his chest. Brandon sang for her quietly. During this, he absently collected colorful shells from the seafloor and periodically sang their various hues for her in the same tune as the current song.

 

When the trio tired of the ocean they returned to their spot. By this time, Brandon had Daisy cradled in his arms as she hummed drowsily against his shoulder. They dried her off and carefully nudged her to wakefulness to give her something to drink. By the time she finished her juice, Daisy had rediscovered her energy. She moved to sit at her parents’ feet as she played with the shells Brandon left in her bucket whilst digging holes.

 

Every now and then, she’d twist her body toward them and either wave a shell excitedly or hand them a particular favorite of hers. The pair would both nod encouragingly as they sat side by side. Ronnie had no qualms with holding his hand and neither did Brandon -- there was no doubt they were recognizable to at least a handful of the Californians at the beach that day. They had already been asked for pictures twice by two seperate girls when they had lingered at the coast, Daisy chasing waves and running away shakily with bubbling giggles. 

 

The public had been aware of their relationship for a better part of six years at that point. And if they hadn’t known, their daughter was a fairly good indication that something was happening between them. So of course, they weren’t shy about showing a little bit of affection which Brandon appreciated. He liked how Ronnie made him feel safe and loved, and holding his hand made him feel grounded when his thoughts threatened to wander.

 

Brandon turned towards Ronnie, smiled, and kissed him.

 

“I love you so much,” he sighed happily. Daisy’s background chatter only served the make his heart swell. Ronnie’s expression softened, his eyes twinkling as he gazed back at Brandon and dragged his thumb across the back of his boyfriend’s hand. “I love you too, B. Any reason why you suddenly got all cute with me?” He teased gently. 

 

Brandon pretended to get mildly offended. “Can’t I tell my sweet, incredible, handsome boyfriend how much I love him?” He punctuated each compliment with a chaste kiss. Ronnie wrapped his arm around Brandon and pulled him close. They sat there, watching Daisy wildly hit the ground with her plastic tools as she played.

 

A breeze picked up, blowing the strands of her hair that had escaped its small tail astray. The wind pushed its comforting tendrils through Brandon’s own stiff hair as he distractedly moved his free hand around him. He was searching for one object in particular and found it soon enough. Feeling the warmed metal under the tips of his fingers, he took ahold of his phone and raised it to face level, opening the camera application. “You’re relentless,” laughed Ronnie easily when he saw what Brandon had in mind.

 

Yeah he was. Brandon nudged his shoulder with a cursory glance and a grin. He called Daisy over with a wide smile, their daughter coming easily. She fell between them automatically with her favorite shell -- a small, fully intact pink and tan conch -- held in her palm. Ronnie tightened his hold, squeezing Brandon’s hip as Brandon angled the phone and snapped a picture of the three of them.

 

He lowered his phone and scrutinized the picture, pleased with the outcome. Ronnie had managed to scoop up Daisy with one arm and sit her to rest against the front of his propped up thighs. He spoke to her as if having a conversation with anybody else, tickling at her sides and pressing kisses to her face. Brandon glanced between his screen and the scene happening beside him.

 

He’ll always have those memories to look back on. For now though, Brandon set aside his phone and turned to experience the present.


End file.
